Cost of living in German towns

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 866449027

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-93831

Document type:: Monograph

Title:: Cost of living in German towns

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Stat. Off.

Year of publication:: 1908

Scope:: 1 Online-Ressource (LXI, 548 Seiten)

Collection:: Economics Books

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DORTMUND. 183 The next Table (supplied by the Director of the Municipal Statistical Office, and relating to a slightly later date) shows the distribution of that part of the population which inhabited tenements of not more than four rooms :— No. of Persons in Household. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 or more No. of Households occupying 1 Room. 2 Rooms. 3 Rooms. 4 Rooms 414 215 130 66 33 15 9 5 1 2 345 1,699 2,506 1,804 1,241 726 362 176 53 35 98 652 996 1,051 971 766 509 326 166 96 47 263 303 345 274 262 175 96 66 49 It appears from these two Tables that in 1900 about three-quarters of the total number of dwellings in Dortmund were of two or three rooms, and that a large majority of these were in the occupation of three to five persons. The conditions appeared to be substantially the same in these respects in 1905. The town is, for the purposes of the building regulations, divided into the old town, two other zones, and certain great streets which are also lines of communication. In the old town and first zone not more than three-quarters of any piece of ground may be built upon, whilst in the second zone and great streets the maxima are two-thirds and two-fifths respectively : corner blocks are allowed a little more. The maximum height of buildings is proportionate to the width of the street. In the old town buildings 23 feet high may be erected in a street 13 feet wide or less, and the further proportions are :— feet to 26\ feet. 49J „ 69 Height of buildings. Width of street. 13 261 49¿ ,, „ In the other zones and great streets the figures are :— Width of street. j Height of buildings. To 36 feet. 36 feet. 32| feet. 49^ „ 494 „ to 69 feet. 36 feet to 49¿ feet. 4 9¿ feet. Over 49¿ feet. ! Equal to width of street. The minimum height of rooms in new buildings is 9 feet 9 inches, and of attics 8 feet 3 inches ; and there must be one water-closet for every two families. The dwellings of the German workmen are as a rule much superior in appearance to those occupied by the foreigners who have come into Dortmund in such great numbers in recent years. In both cases the rooms are usually very plainly, and frequently even very scantily, furnished, but in the dwellings of the foreigners there is often a painful lack of cleanliness. In both classes of dwellings there is much over-crowding, and an indifference to ventilation ; it is not uncommon to see three double-beds in a room so small tnat they leave hardly any space to move about. This undue crowding arises partly from the heavy cost of dwellings as compared with earnings, and partly from the development of the lodger system. The great number of workmen, often (in fact generally) unmarried, pouring into the town, and in search of accommoda tion, has produced a large lodger-class, which may be divided into two groups (a) The “Kostgänger,” who get lodging and board (usually with the family). The customary charge for this accommodation is fiom 1 s. id. to Is. 1 ()d. per day, or £2 10s. per month. (5) The " Schlafgänger," who get only lodging and morning coffee. The “ lodging " here consists often only of a room shared with another"lodger, or even with two or three others, and frequently a room is shared with" members of the family. The customary charge for such accom modation is £1 a month. The evil effects of such conditions—overcrowding complicated with this form of the lodger system—are evident both in regard to health and morals. The local authorities are doing their best to cope with the evil by means of regulations, but are admittedly unable to do more than mitigate it slightly.

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